Mapura Studios is offering Groundbreaking Open Studio Art Therapy sessions for teenagers at the Pukekohe Youth Centre from Term 3. The teens programme has seen stunning results in the five years it has been running in St Lukes Auckland and Mapura is now bringing it to South Auckland.

Art Therapists feel a lot of teenagers feel uncomfortable with too much structure. The open studio approach allows students the freedom to make whatever art pieces they want in a supportive and safe environment. Each 90 minute session starts with a warm up group exercise, but after that the artists can be as creative as they like with whatever mediums they choose, working on their own or collaboratively. “Art becomes a catalyst for social interaction” where teenagers gain confidence as they help each other and form sound and healthy relationships. “For people with autism in particular there can be a lot of anxiety about joining a group, and the open studio approach allows them to join in at their own comfort level.”

One student describes it as her happy place, and another’s parent says her son has been given the near-impossible gift of “belonging” to a peer group and a safe place.